Puerto Rican players said they were always planning to fly home from Los Angeles to celebrate their WBC success, regardless of Wednesday's result. Puerto Rico had become so enthralled by the team's run, it had begun to run out of hair dye, snatched up by fans eager to look like the platinum-blond-haired team.

"He has to apologize to the Puerto Rican people," Molina said to ESPN. "Obviously, you wanted to win; he didn't know what this means to [our] people.

He added: "That's why I'm sending a message to [Jones], saying, 'Look at this, right now, you're in spring training working out, and we're with our people, with our silver medals. You're in spring training and you're working. ... You have no idea how to celebrate your honors, you don't know what it means."